Posted!

Join the Conversation

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

Supreme Court should leave Roe v Wade alone - for freedom's sake

Tea Price, Arizona Republic
Published 6:05 a.m. MT July 7, 2018

CLOSE

AP Reporter Mark Sherman looks at what comes next now that Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court. President Donald Trump will make his second selection for the high court. (June 27)
AP

Opinion: Roe v. Wade may not be on the chopping block, but Kennedy’s departure opens the door to carve away its legal protections for women.

With the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, Americans are focused on the fate of Roe v. Wade.(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP)

Kennedy's exit opens the door

The 1973 case guaranteed women’s right to legal abortion and has subsequently been upheld in cases such as Maher v. Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). The latter drew the support of even Justice Kennedy, who affirmed the constitutional right to have an abortion and concurred that a provision of Pennsylvania law qualified as “undue burden.”

Kennedy helped develop the undue-burden standard that allows states latitude in regulating abortion. However, he played in the gray area when it came to cases dealing with reproductive rights and was known as a “swing vote,” which is why his retirement and the potential appointment of a pro-life justice has conservative activists giddy.

Roe v. Wade may not be on the chopping block, but Kennedy’s departure opens the door to revisit this contentious decision and carve away at its legal protections for women.

It's about freedom, not just abortion

CLOSE

The CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City Laura McQuade said Thursday that "abortion rights are really at risk" with the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. (June 28)
AP

But it is not just abortion or women’s reproductive rights at stake.

In a time of political polarity and tribalism, it’s freedom that hangs in the balance.

One side of the spectrum delights at the thought of policy rollback, while the other fears social regression.

Is the frenzy premature?

Or could this happen?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

The immediate and wholesale undoing of Roe is unlikely. Chief Justice John Roberts could decide to respect precendent and spare the country a legal earthquake.

Individual states already differ on restrictions such as required ultrasounds or counseling or outlawing abortion past a particular stage. Court cases that are currently pending could thus be used to further attack abortion rights.

Abortion is complicated, personal

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Supporters celebrate at Dublin Castle following the result Irish referendum result on the 8th amendment, concerning the country's abortion laws, on May 26, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Ireland has voted in favour of overturning the abortion ban by 66.4% to 33.6%, which is a "resounding" victory for the yes campaign. Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images

A woman breaks down in tears as the results in the Irish referendum on the 8th amendment concerning the country's abortion laws takes place at Dublin Castle on May 26, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images

Yes voters celebrate as the result of the Irish referendum on the 8th amendment concerning the country's abortion laws is declared at Dublin Castle on May 26, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images

Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, center, gestures on his arrival, as campaigners wait for the official result of the Irish abortion referendum, at Dublin Castle in Dublin on May 26, 2018.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar hailed a "quiet revolution" on Saturday as this traditionally Catholic country looked set to liberalize some of Europe's strictest abortion laws in a historic landslide referendum vote. PAUL FAITH, AFP/Getty Images

A young woman leaves flowers at the Savita Halappanavar mural as the results in the Irish referendum on the 8th amendment concerning the country's abortion laws takes place at Dublin Castle on May 26, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Savita Halappanavar who became the symbol of the Yes campaign to repeal the 8th amendment died aged 32 due to complications following a septic miscarriage in Galway, 2012. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images

A Yes voter supporter pictured as the results in the Irish referendum on the 8th amendment concerning the country's abortion laws takes place at Dublin Castle on May 26, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images

Supporters gather at Dublin Castle for the result Irish referendum result on the 8th amendment concerning the country's abortion laws on May 26, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Ireland has voted in favor of overturning the abortion ban by 66.4% to 33.6%, which is a "resounding" victory for the yes campaign. Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images

Counting of votes begins in the Irish referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, in Dublin, Ireland on May 26, 2018. Official counting began Saturday in Ireland's historic abortion rights referendum, with two exit polls predicting an overwhelming victory for those seeking to end the country's strict ban. Peter Morrison, AP

A voter leaves the Marlborough Street National School polling station in Dublin, Ireland on May 25, 2018, during the Irish referendum on liberalising the abortion law. People in Ireland on Friday voted in a landmark referendum on whether the traditionally Catholic country should liberalise some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. BARRY CRONIN, AFP/Getty Images

A voter casts her vote at the Marlborough Street National School polling station in Dublin, Ireland on May 25, 2018, during the Irish referendum on liberalizing the abortion law. BARRY CRONIN, AFP/Getty Images

Members of the public hold no placards on Fairview road as the country heads to polling stations on May 25, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Polling stations are open across the Ireland where voters will decide whether or not to abolish the 8th amendment which makes abortions illegal in the country, except for circumstances where the mother's life is at risk. Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images

Members of the public hold no placards on Fairview road as the country heads to polling stations on May 25, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Polling stations are open across the Ireland where voters will decide whether or not to abolish the 8th amendment which makes abortions illegal in the country, except for circumstances where the mother's life is at risk. Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images

Garda officer Pat McElroy and presiding officer Nancy Sharkey pass a shrine to the Virgin Mary as they carry a ballot box back to their transport boat on Gola Island, off the Donegal coast of western Ireland, where 29 people are registered to vote in the Irish abortion referendum on May 24, 2018.
The inhabitants of Gola island voted Thursday, a day earlier than the rest of the country who will vote on Friday May 25, 2018. Voters will head to the polls to decide whether to repeal a constitutional ban on all abortions except in cases where the mother's life is at risk. PAUL FAITH, AFP/Getty Images

Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, center, poses with activists from the "Yes" campaign, urging people to vote 'yes' in the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment of the Irish constitution, a subsection that effectively outlaws abortion in most cases, in Dublin on May 24, 2018. BARRY CRONIN, AFP/Getty Images

Activists from the "Love Both, Vote No" campaign, including politician Mattie McGrath, hold placards urging people to vote 'no' in the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment of the Irish constitution in Dublin on May 24, 2018. BARRY CRONIN, AFP/Getty Images

A woman walks past street lamps covered in placards from the "Yes" and "No" campaigns, urging people to vote in the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment of the Irish constitution, in Dublin on May 24, 2018. BARRY CRONIN, AFP/Getty Images

Garda officer Pat McElroy looks out to sea as he escorts the completed ballot papers on the Magheragallon ferry on May 24, 2018 in Gola Island, Ireland. The islands vote a day earlier than the rest of the country. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images

The world has seen and can still see what happens when women’s reproductive rights are not their own. Some countries, such as Romania, have forced women to bear children, while others, such as China, have forced women to have abortions. In Latin America, three-quarters of all abortions are illegal.

Abortion is ambiguous. It’s natural to feel conflicted, whether due to lifelong values or for lack of understanding and personal experience.

But that’s the point. Abortion is also complicated by personal experience. Thus, each answer is personal.

An abortion is not a simple decision. Anyone who naively states, “Well, it is for some people,” fails to understand the physical and emotional stress during the procedure and after it’s over.

We've reached a moment of reckoning

You can believe abortion is wrong. That is your fundamental right. But for a nation founded on religious freedom, it is a contradiction for religion to impose its will on such a personal decision – on individual freedom.

Religions that hew to the inviolability of life condemn abortion. Yet are they not equally tied by the concept of moral burden?

If human will is the foundation of religious responsibility, surely freedom to make choices is paramount.

Now is a moment of reckoning.

In America, the myriad of religious beliefs should not dictate for all what is a deeply personal decision.